Raising the Bar on Education

This past March, Tammy Warner of Nails Unlimited in Buffalo, N.Y., held her first annual Buffalo Education Event to bring educators and professional technicians together to share techniques, ideas, and advice to help give them a competitive edge. The two day event was put on at the Marriot in Amherst, N.Y., and educators and technicians came from across the U.S. and Canada to participate.

The goal was simply to raise the level of education and techniques across all kinds of nail services. The education was geared towards more general techniques and was not product specific. Loni Jensen Preato of DaLonnie’s Hair & Nail Studio in Las Vegas, shared her reverse smile line technique for square and stiletto nails, and taught creative ways to have fun with nail art.

Joseph Pham of Art Design Hair and Nail, in Amherst N.Y., took the class back to basics with techniques on proper form placement and filing techniques, and Gina Silvestro, of Gel Essentialz in Cranston, R.I., introduced the participants to gels.

Pedicures had their turn too, with Alice Wallace, national educator for ProLinc Cosmetics, sharing her ideas on how to safely take care of calloused feet without exhausting yourself, and also selling your pedicures to set them apart from the competition.

And it wasn’t all classroom and nose to the grindstone either — there was time for fun too. The group made sure to get out and sample some of the area’s world famous Buffalo Wings, and some were even brave enough to try the mechanical buffalo in the downtown, nightlife area of Chippewa Street. 

The feedback from the event was best summed up by one of the attendees who said, “This class was incredible! Just what I needed! So much talent in one place. I’m inspired!”

So in response to the overwhelming demand, Tammy has planned to take the Buffalo event on the road. The events will be called “The High Road to Education,” and it may soon be coming to a city near you. For more information, send Tammy an email at nailsunlmtd@yahoo.com.

Here’s Tammy giving some instruction.

Gina Silvestro gave same valuable tips on filing gels.

The attendees group shot.

— Tim